High School seniors surprised with reimagined yearbook photos & celebrity visit

GRANADA HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- John F. Kennedy High School is one of the 15 schools selected by LIFEWTR for their latest beautification project to paint murals across these Los Angeles Unified School District schools.

The murals are meant to give the students a daily dose of inspiration across the community, and JFK High School decided to kick it off with surprise guest, actress Dascha Polanco.

"When it comes to education we can't ignore what allows kids to be able to express themselves. I think that's something that we've kind of ignored and pushed to the side. I know math and reading and STEM is very important, but the arts as well," said Polanco.

Instead of doing typical cap and gown yearbook photos, LIFEWTR partnered with the school and local artists to give their senior portraits a more artistic look.

The students got to interact with Polanco while choosing what kind of art they wanted to incorporate in their senior portrait.

They had the option to work with graffiti, digital, water color and oil painting artists to bring the students' visions to life.

Some of the other 15 schools will also get an artistic yearbook portrait, and all of them will get a mural by a local LA artist.